


Phoenix

by SuburbanSun



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Perthshire Cottage fic, spoilers for 3x07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 13:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5206934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuburbanSun/pseuds/SuburbanSun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, the thing is, I imagined us settling down in that cottage so many times… it became like a lifeline to me. And so I wanted…” Her voice got quieter as she fisted her hands in her lap. Frowning, he reached over and wrapped his own hand around both of her loose fists, and she smiled despite her obvious nerves. “I wanted to find it. To show you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EclecticMuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EclecticMuse/gifts).



> Written for eclecticmuses on Tumblr. For a three-sentence fic meme. OOPS.

“This isn’t the way to my mum’s house.”

“Hush, Fitz.” Jemma shot him a look as she slid her hand down to more comfortably grip the steering wheel. “You were so nice and quiet and peaceful when you were napping just now.”

He looked over at her in mock offense. “Are you saying you liked me better when I was unconscious?”

“I’m saying there’s no need for you to second-guess my directional choices now that you _are_ conscious.”

“Alright, alright.”

They drove in silence for awhile, Fitz’s head lolling back against the seat and his eyelids beginning to droop again. He felt himself just starting to drift off to sleep when the car slowed to a stop on a gravel drive.

“We’re here,” murmured Jemma, looking fondly at him as he blinked himself awake.

“Mmm? Where’s here?” He sat up straighter, glimpsing the same Scottish countryside they’d been driving through for hours. Beautiful and relaxing, certainly, but there didn’t seem to be a “here” here. He diverted his attention back to Jemma, who now sat in the driver’s seat with her hands fidgeting in her lap, eyes downcast. “Jem?”

She looked up at him, and her eyes were shining. “Um. Do you remember when I told you about the cottage… the Perthshire one?”

Fitz chuckled a little breathlessly. “Well, you didn’t so much tell _me_ , as--”

“My phone. Right.” She glanced out the window at the expanse of green. “Well, the thing is, I imagined us settling down in that cottage so many times… it became like a lifeline to me. And so I wanted…” Her voice got quieter as she fisted her hands in her lap. Frowning, he reached over and wrapped his own hand around both of her loose fists, and she smiled despite her obvious nerves. “I wanted to find it. To show you. So I asked my parents about the route we took on our holiday when I was young, and pieced together the location from what we collectively remembered. Then I combed through Google Earth to find the right one… and I couldn’t. So I did some more online research-- with some help from Daisy-- and we finally figured it out.”

“Yeah?” He stroked his thumb gently across her fists, which were slowly unclenching in her lap.

“Yeah. It, um.” She looked down at their joined hands. “It burned down. In 2003. A total loss.” She nodded her head toward the window. “That’s all that’s left of it,” she said, and when he looked, he could see a small pile of stone several meters away, almost completely obscured by tall grass.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“So…”

“So I wasn’t going to bring you out here at all. But then I started thinking about how… how we’re a bit like that cottage.”

Fitz furrowed his brow. “Come again?”

She let out a breath through her nose and smiled softly. “Not in all ways, obviously. But… we’ve gone through the fire, so to speak.”

His mouth felt dry suddenly. “A total loss?”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “No! No, again, not in all ways. Not in most ways, to be honest, but... “ She chuckled. “God, Fitz, I’ve always been terrible at metaphor.”

He squeezed her hands, turning his body a little bit more so he could face her fully. “Yeah, y’have.”

She glared a bit, but continued. “It’s just. We’ve been through it, and come out the other end, bright and fresh like the green grass and full of potential.” She wrinkled her nose at herself. “Maybe that doesn’t make any sense. You were always the romantic one out of the two of us.”

“This is meant to be romantic?” he asked, but with a teasing lilt to his voice, so her glare was soft this time.

“The point is, _Fitz_ , that this cottage--”

“--or lack thereof--”

“--is like us. And just like we rebuilt our friendship, and made it better--”

“--well, sex makes everything better.”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Just like that, I think we can make this cottage even better.”

“Wait. What are you saying?”

Jemma pulled one hand out from under his, reaching out to stroke his cheek tenderly, briefly, before pulling open the glovebox and feeling around until she found a document. She held it out to him and bit her lip.

He raised his eyebrows as he read over the deed. “You _own_ this land?”

“That S.H.I.E.L.D. paycheck just seems to add up when you’re living on a base, doesn’t it?” Her voice sounded thinner than usual, nervous. He drew his gaze up to meet hers, still clutching the document in one hand.

“And you want to…”

“What do you say, Fitz?” she asked, her expression open and apprehensive at once. “Will you build a home with me? Here in the ashes of this cottage?”

He let out a breathy chuckle as he laid the deed on the console between them and then reached out to stroke Jemma’s cheek, hand sliding down to her neck and fingers slipping into her hair. “And you said you weren’t good at metaphor.”

She smirked at him. “Is that a yes?”

He nodded, a grin overtaking his face. “I will build anything with you. Though, as I’m the engineer of the pair of us, you should probably leave all the _actual_ building to me.”

“Ugh, Fitz!” She rolled her eyes with a wide smile. He couldn’t help but lean over the console to kiss her, his lips on hers warm and soft and full of promises. When he pulled away, she nodded at the window. “Do you want to go and get the lay of the land?”

He nodded, and they spent the next hour traipsing around the green, green grass, in the space where a tiny Perthshire cottage had once stood, in the space where they would eventually create something even better, something entirely their own.

Holding tight to Fitz beside the remaining pile of stone, Jemma wondered if perhaps she wasn’t so bad at metaphor, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Worth noting that I've read a few lovely stories where Fitz buys Jemma the Perthshire cottage, and I'm 100% here for those, too. I just wanted to give Jemma a chance to make her dream come true. Sort of. In a manner of speaking. Idk. I'm bad at metaphor.
> 
> Want to chat on Tumblr? I'm unbreakablejemmasimmons over there!


End file.
